Half the Size with Double the Life – Jason’s Journey

Patient – Jason Rosa

Age – 43 years

Weight Lost – 108kg to date

Timespan – 13 months

Everyone has a tipping point. For Jason Rosa it was the day his body couldn’t make it up a flight of stairs and he had to use the disabled lift.

Jason’s weight had reached 205kg and he was taking a handful of pills every day to regulate his heart rate, blood pressure, diabetes and other health problems.

That was just over a year ago. Today Jason, 43, weighs in at a healthy 97kg, and the only pill he takes is a multivitamin.

Jason said the key to turning around his weight and his health was the support he was given by his surgeon and medical support team.

“It was me and the A-team,” said Jason. “The reason I’ve lost 108kg and counting after gastric sleeve surgery, is because of my surgeon’s expertise in the operating theatre and the follow-up support I’ve been given after I left hospital.

“The surgery fixed my metabolism, but I wouldn’t have lost so much weight without the post-surgery program. I had experts to fall back on when I fell down and made mistakes.

After years of dieting, Jason wanted a permanent solution to his weight related health problems.

On his GP’s recommendation, he chose to trust Dr Jordaan and his multidisciplinary team at the Surgical Weight Loss Centre.

At the Surgical Weight Loss Centre, Dr Jordaan leads a clinical team of doctors, nurses, nutritionists, psychologists, anaesthetists and medical specialists who case manage each patient to ensure long-term improvements in their health and weight.

This commitment to total quality control means Dr Jordaan’s program has achieved long-term results high above the national average, as measured by independent audit.

Dr Jordaan said bariatric surgery reset patients’ metabolism to feel full and satisfied with small portions of nutritionally dense foods. “The program we offer patients is designed to stop weight-related health problems in their tracks and then reverse the damage excess weight has done their body and health.

“Our patients routinely halve their medications for conditions like diabetes before they are discharged from hospital, long before significant weight loss occurs.”

Jason was no different. He no longer needs daily medication to regulate his heart beat and his blood pressure.

His resting heart rate has dropped from a dangerous 110 beats per minute, down to 56 beats per minute.

“I have literally halved my size and turned my health around,” Jason said. “It all started when I went to one of Dr Jordaan’s patient information seminars.

“I sat there listening to him explain the different type of weight loss operations and I could tell he knew his stuff. He was meticulous and very honest.

“Plus I knew that if I was really going to do this, really going to fix my body this time, I would need to do the hard yards after the operation. I had to change what I ate and the way I ate.

“I knew I couldn’t eat a lot anymore, but I had to make sure I didn’t develop deficiencies that would sabotage me,” he said.

That meant working with a nutritionist – just one member of an allied health team that continues to medically manage Jason’s health throughout his weight loss journey.

Dr Jordaan said a key factor in a patient’s long-term success is a post-surgical program that continuously monitors the patient’s nutritional status and health throughout the weight loss period.

“The typical patient continues to lose weight for up to 2 years, without nutritional deficiencies and motivational slumps over that time” Dr Jordaan said.

“We have assembled a team of clinical professionals who take a medical approach to weight loss and health management, to help our patients lose a large amount of weight quickly and safely, and keep it off.

“The body is a complicated system and to achieve real long-term results it’s important that patients are individually case managed by health professionals proficient in the specific needs of bariatric patients,” Dr Jordaan said.

After bariatric surgery and 13 months on Dr Jordaan’s program, Jason said he no longer feels trapped inside a body where he doesn’t belong.

“It was a big decision, but it was the best decision of my life,” Jason said. “I should have done it years earlier – and if I’d known then what I know now, I would have.

“After 7 years of barely being able to work or not work at all, I’ve just been made permanent at my job. I have my health back and I’ll be alive to watch my kids to grow up.